Prologue
Sunlight poked through the cracks of the window shutters; glittering rays dancing across the grey stones of the tower room floor. Alluna hadn’t opened the shutters, unable to bear the sight of another perfect day. The scene would be the same—the tall grass in the field rolling and swaying with the caress of summer breeze, surrounded by a sea of deep green forest beyond. The trees always danced and whispered amongst themselves, making Alluna envy them. They were surrounded by their own kind and never lonely. 

Not like her. Loneliness was her constant companion. Alluna only knew her >ama. Sometimes she would catch glimpses of wildlife outside her window, and once every few years, humans brave enough to chance Mama’s wrath to appease their curiosity about the castle ruins.

Alluna tried to sigh, but couldn’t get enough breath into her starving lungs. The brace Mama insisted she wear to keep her abnormal swelling down pinched her hips and constricted her ribs. It hurt.

With a cry of anger, she tore at her golden frock, peeling it down to her knees, and unlaced her brace.

Cool air caressed her naked upper body, making her nipples peak tightly. Tossing the offending brace aside, Alluna rubbed the ache, letting her head fall back in relief. Rubbing always felt nice…pinching too. The sharp little sting of pain made her feel alive, made the area between her thighs ache. Alluna’s fingertips closed on her nipples slowly and hesitated.

If Mama saw her, she’d beat Alluna, call her "naughty." Mama said touching her body was what had made her sick. Her chest had swelled up into two ugly bumps, and once a month she bled between her legs. That was really scary. She didn’t enjoy the dull ache she’d feel in the pit of her groin those days either.

Choking back a sob, she crawled across the rough stones of the floor into the lap of one of her life-sized dolls. A flood of tears bathed her cheeks as she wrapped the cold, rubbery arms around her.

“Mama said the villagers wanted to hurt me. Why?” Her breath hiccupped as her fingers gripped the dolls frock tightly and burrowed deeper against the lifeless doll. She imagined her doll, Lila, kissing the top of her head, patting her back and telling her it would be alright.

“Why would they want to hurt me? Why am I sick? Why can’t I stop being naughty?” She sniffled, feeling shame in the enjoyment she felt exploring her body, and the pleasure in the spankings afterwards.

Mama had tried to scare her, saying the villagers would come get her, tie her up and take a switch to her bare ass. The thought both frightened and excited Alluna, much to her chagrin.

“I’m naughty. I’m a bad girl, and I’m ugly. Mama said so.”

She cried until, weary from grief, she dozed off. Strange dreams invaded her sleep; a horde of devils in a dimly lit cavern. A tall, muscular warrior with a fall of golden hair down his naked back hacked away at the snarling creatures, even as claws and tails ripped wounds into his flesh. Black blood streaked the glowing blade he used. His thighs and arms rippled with savage strength. The warrior roared his anger.

Alluna startled awake, confused by her dream. She tried to remember more of it, but it faded away like smoke on a windy day.

The chill of the tower room made her skin pimple and her nipples peak. With a sigh, she pulled her dress back into place, ignoring the brace. Let Mama find her with her lumps swinging free. Perhaps if she were disobedient enough, Mama wouldn’t leave her for such long periods of time.

Another sigh escaped her lips. She’d cleaned the entire tower, both levels, tidied and reorganized everything. Only her bed remained unmade since she’d awakened. With a rebellious frown, she decided to leave it that way. No one would come calling today, she was sure.

Pushing away the feelings of self-pity, she decided to practice her Echize di’ Drakkur, or Dragon's Lure.

Lifting her dress, Alluna crawled her way across the floor where she vaguely made out the outline of her bench before the closed window shutters. The cold rough stones felt good against her skin. Her hands skimmed against the floor and she had the sudden urge to drag her bare belly against it, to feel the roughness against the softness of her chest lumps and thighs.

Alluna sighed with a shiver, feeling the area between her legs quiver. Such strange feelings. What do they mean?

She gave a little bleat of pain mingled with surprise when she smacked her head against the bench. Rubbing her sore forehead with one hand, she reached out with the other to feel around for her golden flute. Cold, hard metal met her searching hand. Wrapping her fingers around it, she brought it up to her face, took a deep breath, pursed her lips, and blew. Soft lilting music filled the air around her and echoed throughout the chamber.

Closing her eyes, she envisioned a beautiful golden dragon soaring through the sky, his scales gleaming bright like the sun. She played for him, calling with her heart as well as her song.

Giant wings fanned the warm air as her imaginary dragon circled, sapphire eyes glowing down at her. Two gleaming horns spiraled up from his mighty head and he had a snout full of jagged ivory teeth. A growl rumbled deep in his chest, the scales on his body lifting slightly from the rumbling vibration.

She should have feared the beast, but as long as she played her melody, he was hers, a slave to her bidding.

Mine, she thought, feeling her heart race at the sheer beauty of her beast. He would protect her, love her. My dragon, she thought with longing. Oh, how safe she would feel.

The air, stirred by the dragon’s wings, stroked through her raven tresses. She willed him to her, to kneel at her feet. The dragon landed with…

A heavy thud behind her made her jump.

Alluna’s eyes snapped open, fingers stilling on the flute. Her lips parted, breath lodging in her chest as every hair on her head prickled from the shiver running up her spine.

She felt a presence in the dark behind her. Her imagination conjured the image of a fire-breathing dragon hunkered down, sharp teeth dripping with spit, ready to devour her in one gulp. Silly, of course, because a dragon wouldn’t even fit in her tower room, even as big as the room was. Still, her mind would not shake the image of a dragon.

Swallowing, she lowered her flute, heart racing. A fine trembling began in her body as she bit her lower lip, stifling a whimper. She strained to hear any type of movement, but all she heard was… breathing, deep, steady, sounlike her terrified panting.

A fresh clean scent, like citrusy fruit on a crisp verdant summer breeze tickled her nose. The heat emanating behind her dissipated the chill in the room. A fire-breathing dragon. She tried valiantly not to scream now. Slowly, Alluna turned her head.

She winced when her flute fell from her grasp with a loud metallic clang, her eyes going round in the gloom of the tower.

It was somewhat shaped like a person. At least it wasn’t a dragon, though the presence of the shadowy figure did not comfort her at all. The person knelt a few paces away. She could barely make out the shadowy figure. Whoever it was didn’t move, just knelt there, silent, breathing.

Alluna turned her head away and rose, her heart seemingly pounding at the back of her throat. Putting one bare foot before the other with careful slowness, she made her way to the window shutters. The sound of her heart and erratic terrorized panting seemed to echo in the room’s rafters.

Movement. She sensed movement and turned her head to see the shadowy figure slowly dragging a pillow into its lap. The head looked big, furry, the shoulders wide, body enormous.

Oh no, it’s a beast… a monster! she screamed in her head.

Alluna shivered, her eyes riveted to the dark shadow as her trembling fingers fumbled with the latch on the shutters. The latch stuck, rusty with age, and just as she was about to start shrieking, it gave and slid open with a long, squealing cry of protest. With a forceful push, she swung the shutters open.

The ancient shutters groaned and creaked. For a moment, she pondered simply throwing herself over the ledge. The ground below was very far. She’d never survive.

Fear choked her as she turned back.

Sunlight poured into the tower room, chasing back the darkness and chill. The dark grey of the floor lightened to a slivery ash, the same shade as the old wooden beams that held up the second story to the room. The blinding light spread to her rumpled bed, with its faded patchwork quilt and frayed red rug. Her dolls sat around, smiling, unmoving, uncaring of the presence in the room.

The shutters banged against the rock walls of the tower. In two rapid blinks, light engulfed the shadowy figure, bathing it in golden splendor.

“Oh, gods,” Alluna gasped, her hand going to her galloping heart.

Her eyes beheld the most beautiful creature she’d ever seen—and the biggest.

What she had assumed was a large furry head turned out to be a mane of golden hair, spilling wildly thick, lustrous waves around a muscular body.

Alluna’s jaw dropped as her eyes took in the fiery sapphire eyes. It had lush lips, a thick neck, bulky shoulders, and ropey arms. The creature’s chest sported square pillows of flesh with copper colored disks in their bronzed centers. They tightened even as she gaped at them. Her eyes couldn’t stop there though. Rippled abs dipped into a tiny belly button just above the red pillow clutched over thick meaty thighs.

She swallowed loudly, her eyes darting back up to the creature’s beautiful face. Hints of dimples made little hollows in the cheeks and another in the center of the chin.

An angel? Was this an angel like the one she had in the little picture on her nightstand?

But why would an angel be kneeling in the center of her room?

Sapphire eyes closed, long gold-tipped lashes sweeping over slightly flushed cheeks. Again, Alluna let her gaze sweep over the creature’s unclothed body. It was so big… so different from her or her other dolls… who were female.

A boy doll? Had Mama given her a boy doll? Her fascinated gaze traveled back up its torso. Huge, but pretty.

It had to be a boy.

Alluna walked over to him. His eyes snapped back open, disorientated at first, but then they focused on her, almost in adoration. She circled him once, noticing all that wavy golden hair fell to the middle of his bottom, which rested over his enormous feet. His gaze followed her, blinking, turning his head first one way then the other as she came around him full circle. A confused frown marred his features. How strange. Dolls usually grinned and said hello. This one looked lost and confused.

Maybe this is how boy dolls are supposed to be. Clueless.

She went down on her knees before him. “You’re so beautiful.” She touched his chest and was surprised at his warmth, as though he ran a fever. His skin was velvety soft too, not rubbery.

She moaned at the shiver that ran through her. “Oh, yes. You’re going to feel so good against me. I can hardly wait to take all my clothes off and rub against your soft, hot skin.” Her nails pressed against the pectoral under her palm.

The doll flinched, eyes widening, going over every feature on her face, as if seeing her for the first time. His hands clutched the pillow tighter. He swallowed convulsively, looking bewildered now, which Alluna found quite strange.

She licked her lips and his eyes flicked down to watch in rapt attention. A soft sigh puffed out from between his lips and he swayed a little toward her.

Alarm streaked through her making her gasp and lift her other hand to steady him. “Is your power running low?” she asked anxiously. He blinked and pulled back. “I only have enough power to charge one doll at a time, and today I was charging Rayne,” she explained.

He opened his mouth to speak, looking baffled, but Alluna placed her fingers over his lips. Their petal softness startled her silent a moment, but she shook her head, worried he’d power off from lack of energy. Then he’d grow cold and lifeless like the rest of her dolls. “Don’t talk or move until I bring Rayne’s energy crystal. She’s another doll I have upstairs in a glass case. Mama won’t let me play with her…” she frowned, “I don’t know why, but it doesn’t matter. Please don’t shut off. It’ll take forever to get you to power up and I want so much to talk and play with a new doll. My other ones don’t function anymore. I’ll be right back. Stay.”

She got up, joy overwhelming her senses as she scampered up the stairs, tripping along the way.

** ** **

Zak watched the raven-haired beauty scramble away. She gave a little squeal of utter delight as she literally ran up the old looking spiral staircase.

What the hell? he thought with a raised brow.

After a few seconds of staring off after her in stunned silence, he finally closed his gaping mouth and looked around. “Where the hell am I?” he whispered to himself.

Everything wavered and he felt light-headed and faint, but, of course, that hadn’t hindered him from noticing how freaking hot she looked, and so… innocent. Hell, he wasn’t sure if his stupefied state of mind had to do with how much she blew his mind, or the fact that some female had actually managed to accomplish such a feat. Zachariel Wilder—blown away by a little slip of a girl with dark hair and skin, and golden eyes.

“Huh,” he snorted.

His gaze lowered to the pillow he’d grabbed to cover his boy parts, unsure of the welcome a six-foot-seven, two hundred and fifty pound naked man would receive.

The ache in his loins made him frown.

Again, he wondered how he wound up here.

His gaze roved over everything; round room, very big, made of stone, and judging from the view of wispy clouds and swaying treetops the ginormous window before him displayed, he surmised he was inside a very tall tower.

“As in Rapunzel, Wilder,” he murmured to himself with a snort of disbelief. “Remien Fyre, where the hell have you sent me?”

Grayed out beams hinted at siglons of age. The furniture looked worn, and the bedclothes and tapestries faded and frayed.

His frown deepened at the sight of dozens of life-sized dolls in various stages of undress sitting around, their big lifeless eyes and empty smiles giving him the creeps.

Zak huffed in confusion, running his hands up his chest. His hair was loose and he was naked. A shiver of revulsion made him clench his teeth as he wondered if he’d shifted into his dragon form again. Mistake.

No,no. Mustn’t think of that horror.... The feel of his body contorting, stretching, jagged teeth pushing through his gums, his bones popping, fire coursing through his veins.…

Zak clenched his teeth tighter to keep the scream that wanted to erupt from his throat trapped. He slid his hands into his hair and pulled, eyes closed as he willed his flesh to stop twitching.

“God, oh Godd…not now,” he panted.

Control. He was the master. He was in charge. Slowly, his body stopped shaking and his breathing slowed to normal. Eyes closed, he lowered his hands back upon the pillow.

“That’s better, Wilder,” he said to himself through clenched teeth. “Now think.”

The last thing he remembered was fighting a legion of devils in some underground cavern, following Remien out into a corridor afterwards, and then accidentally falling through a portal Remien had opened in hopes of getting back to their transports quicker.

“Aw hell,” Zak cursed with a grimace. God only knew where the hell he was. “Serves me right for following Remi around like an idiot.”

Soft footfalls sounded above, drawing his gaze to the wooden ceiling.

The girl. Longing stirred within him. Holy crap, the minute she’d opened those shutters he felt as if he’d been hit over the head with a plasma cannon. Had that ever happened to him before?

Her skin was the color of sweet caramel, eyes a luminous gold fringed by long, thick, black lashes. He didn’t miss her full, lush lips, the glimpse of white teeth, and a soft pink tongue beyond when she gasped. She had the slightest hint of an over bite that made her face more adorable than beautiful, framed by a fall of deep black hair spilling to her tiny waist. Firm, round breasts pressed against the gold material of her scoop-necked dress, jutting nipples letting him know she wore no bra underneath. Zak literally drooled…. 

He’d bedded many beauties before, had them by dozens at a time in his bed, tied down, spread out for his pleasure and dominance, but this girl…. I want her, I need to be hers.…

Zak blinked, rearing back before he crawled on hands and knees up the spiral staircase after her. “What the fuck is wrong with me? I need to be hers?” He scowled wondering what sneaky spell she’d cast on him.

Oh, she definitely needs to be… punished. Naughty girl. His body tightened as his mind pictured what all that caramel-colored skin would look like once he peeled away her pretty gown. Oh yes, and his favorite metal-studded cuffs around her delicate wrists and ankles would look stunning too. Images of her strapped to his favorite spanking bench had him sighing. He’d kiss, lick and nip her perky ass first, get her all hot and bothered, then, she’d feel the business end of his palm, let her know who was in charge—who belonged to who.

The thought of slapping her pretty ass a rosy pink had him moaning, “Oh, yeah.”

Persistent hissing intruded his dark thoughts.

“Pssssssst!”

Zak turned with a scowl.

Remien Fyre, his irritating Alpha Angel brother, waved his hand insistently, whispering loudly. “Get over here!”

Aw, damn it all.

Zak growled at him, making the red-haired weredragon’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline.

No. He was not leaving. That female had his name all over her and Zachariel Wilder wasn’t leaving until he tried her on for size.

Zak turned away with a snort, ignoring the way Remi hissed his name in irritation. His eyes went over the room. It was relatively clean, but everything looked very old, much older than the girl who seemed to be trapped here. Yes. The raven-haired beauty had to be a prisoner. And he was going to save her. The thought made him grin.

He imagined carrying her out of the tower, laying her inside his Viper and stripping her bare, telling her she didn’t need the old rags of her past life. He’d dress her in diamonds, rubies, and pearls. His collar. She’d be happy and appreciative he’d saved her. Yes, Master. Thank you. Please, take me.…

A hand gripping his biceps interrupted his fantasy. “What is wrong with you? Let’s get the hell out of here,” Remi whispered, getting into Zak’s face.

Remi’s black-rimmed green eyes bore into his. Zak didn’t understand what was wrong with himself, either. He felt weird, not right at all. All he knew was that the thought of leaving her, gave him a feeling of panic, anxiety, anger. He’d convince Rem to bring her along. Later, he’d figure out what the hell the little witch had done to him, and turn the tables on her.

Yeah, good idea, he thought, watching Remi’s confused frown.

“She’s a prisoner of sorts,” Zak blurted, knowing that if there were anyone in this universe that understood blind stupid infatuation, it would be Remien Fyre. “Let’s take her with us, Red.”

Remi’s lips twitched, the sunlight glinting off the two silver hoops piercing his lower lip, and then he grinned that wicked grin he always got when he was about to partake in some matchmaking. The idiot thought he was the reincarnation of Cupid. This time Zak didn’t mind the weredragon’s meddling—meddlesome fucker that he always was.

“Are you out of your mind?” Seth’s platinum blond head popped in next to Remi, making Zak jump. The young weretigri frowned at Zak, his pale blue eyes flashing as Remi rolled his green ones in annoyance. “Devon will tear us a new one. We’ve got to get out of here now.”

Zak stiffened. No. He opened his mouth to beg shamelessly, but Remien saved him from the humiliation.

“Zak likes her,” Remien said with a nod. “I say we take her home for him.”

Zak held his breath, watching Seth’s frown turn into a scowl. “We can’t just take beings as fuck toys, Fyre. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Fuck toys? Zak snarled at Seth.

An angel and a devil. The creatures arguing before her new doll were not of this world. The devil’s hair was so red it reminded her of fresh blood. It was long and shaggy, and stuck up out of its head in every direction. Black scrolled designs wrapped around its biceps, and forearms. The tattoo of a dragon clutched the right thigh up to its hip and a snake curled from its left foot to just past the ankle.

The angel’s hair was as white as fresh snow and fell like a silken veil, just barely brushing wide, bulky shoulders. Like her doll, they too were unclothed, their bodies knotted with muscle and sinew, though not as massively proportioned as her beautiful boy doll. Why they were conversing in hushed tones eluded her. All Alluna knew was that that devil was not going to take her new doll. His hand was clutching the golden-haired boy doll by his arm. Maybe the angel was trying to get him to release her doll.

Clenching her hands, she approached in silence, pulled one fist back, and swung, aiming for the head of deep red hair.

The devil ducked last second and her fist connected with her beautiful doll—right in his eye.

He fell back, golden tresses flowing around his face and body like the rays of the sun pouring down on all of them.

“Son of a bitch,” he roared, clutching his eye.

The devil snapped around to her and blurted, “Sleep!”

Dragon-green eyes and blood-red hair were the last things Alluna saw.

Chapter One 

Two Earth month cycles later, Cygnus arm of the Milky Way galaxy, Crystalimuus sector. 

The loud music flowed through Zak’s very soul, taking him, driving him. His fingers, as if possessed, flew over the strings of the power guitar in his arms. He stroked the instrument like a lover, loving her, controlling her, bringing her to fevered ecstasy. The power guitar keened and cried under his touch. Zak threw his head back, the feel of his long hair whipping his sweating back as he widened his stance. He twisted sideways, fingers sliding down the arm of the power guitar, knowing he held the hundreds of thousands of alien beings in the arena enthralled.

Gritting his teeth, he arched back, fingers already sparking flames with his rapid arpeggio. The multitude roared, shaking the ground beneath his boots.

Yes. She would cry out in fulfillment under his control, his dominance—and dominate her he would—master her, make her soul soar.

The image of the Arborian witch filled his mind, tormenting him as always. He didn’t even know her name, but he’d fallen under her spell. He needed to punish her for that. No one mastered him. He was the Master.

The thought of having her bound and at his mercy, hearing her beg as he teased her to agonizing arousal, made the blood in his veins sizzle.

Zak groaned, the feel of frustrated lust making him ache, even as the explosion of cheers and applause swallowed the last keening notes of his power guitar. He had to stop thinking about that girl, or he’d go insane just as Seth warned.

He panted from the efforts of his performance, letting the fact this was his last show with Draconius Imorteus sink in. Pushing back his sweaty hair from his face, he scanned the view before him.

Spires of ice soared hundreds of feet into a velvet sky dusted with billions of stars. Laser beams lit each spire from within in a kaleidoscope of blinding colors. Bursts of white light went off in the arena as the alien beings recorded the concert with their vid-crystals. Zak looked up to see himself on all the 4D image replicators around the arena. His blond hair deepened to caramel from sweat, plastered to his torso. His body screamed for a shower, a bed… and her.

Zak closed his eyes and desperately shoved away the feeling of anxiety and desperation that thinking about her provoked.

Opening his eyes, he tried to drown himself in the screams and applause of his adoring fans. With a smile, he closed his eyes, lifted his arms, and let his head drop back. The cheers swelled to a deafening roar.

There were beings from every reach of the galaxy, fans of the mega intergalactic rock band, as well as reporters, paparazzi, Master Guardians, and reapers. The fans came for the music. The reporters and paparazzi came for Edenia’s legendary Master Guardians, back after disappearing over three hundred years ago, and Zak was one of them. The other Master Guardians and reapers were there waiting for either Zak or one of his brothers to manifest some type of evil power for an excuse to execute Edenia’s fallen angels

Fallen angels.

Devon, Zak’s commander, renamed them Alpha Angels, wanting disassociation from the Edenian government and the Order of Master Guardians.

Most of the galaxy distrusted them, believing they were responsible for the war that almost annihilated the entire galaxy. Part of the tour into the Magnordian sector was cancelled when the inhabitants of that area refused to allow one of "Lucifer's Angels" into their sector. Zak took a deep breath and let it out slowly, white mist curling into the air. It’s what his father had called him the last time they spoke, "spawn of the devil." 

Don’t go there, Wilder. He admonished himself, pushing the painful memories back into the dark recesses of his mind.

The crowd was still roaring, giving him a standing ovation. A chill breeze blew a swath of sticky hair across his cheek. Did the beings before him applaud him for the musician he was, or were they worshiping him as their demonic god?

A feeling of absolute despair and loneliness engulfed him.

No. He had family. Devon, Angel, Remien, Rowie, Anniel, and Seth. They were his family.

The pretty face of the Arborian witch bloomed in his mind, her sweet smile, golden eyes, raven tresses, full ripe…. 

Zak! Seth’s voice intruded his thoughts.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the stagehands signaling to him. The lights faded to black, and the orchestra behind the band began a soulful tune.

Imo would take his rightful place now. Zak supplanted the boyish vampire while he recovered from being abducted and blood-starved by demons.

Zak breathed in the icy air, blackness cloaking him as he strode off stage. Only other vampires or werecreatures would see his retreating form.

Sethaliel waited for him. The young weretigri gripped Zak’s arm and rushed him down the corridor.

They weaved their way through the dimly lit tunnels of ice that descended from behind the stage. The walls, ceiling, and floor glowed an eerie deep blue making the vampire crew darting back and forth look even paler, their inhuman eyes glow brighter.

“The serum lasts less now,” Seth said. “Are we dosing again, or leaving?”

Zak looked over at Seth’s expressionless face. The boy’s features were angelic with his platinum hair and bright, pale-blue eyes, but the boy rarely smiled.

Seth’s eyes slanted sideways at Zak, his lips thinning into a scowl. He didn’t like being thought of as a boy and though he was already twenty-one Earth years, it was sometimes difficult for Zak to remember that "little Seth" had grown up.

Except when I beat your ass in the training room. Seth snarled into his mind. Now are we leaving or not?

Zak chuckled. “We’re leaving.” He ran his tongue over his fangs even as Seth hustled him faster toward the dressing room. “Are you getting rid of your fangs when we get back?”

“Yes,” was the weretigri’s succinct reply. “You?”

Zak considered his options as they ducked around another bend in the maze of corridors. He’d developed a fetish for blood play now. The way females gasped and cried out in bliss when he drove his fangs into their flesh excited him. The feel and taste of their warm blood on his tongue and lips made him throb.

He envisioned the Arborian witch in his arms, trembling with want as he ran his nose down her neck trying to decide where to bite. He would pass her shoulder, mouth watering as she arched her back with a sigh. His fingers would dip into the bodice of her gown….

“Stop it.” Seth growled.

Anticipating another round of lectures from the wereling, Zak felt anger shoot through him. “I’m not under some fucking spell, Seth.”

“You are.”

“Remi heard the same as me, and he’s fine.” Seth told him the girl had played a flute that lured not only him, but Remi as well.

“You were exposed longer.”

Yes, Zak had traipsed through the forest apparently in a trance and ended up in the tower room…on his knees, completely bewitched by the Arborian witch.

Remi had traversed the portal later, in search of Zak, and had been spelled, too. Only the red weredragon had snapped out of it before setting his eyes on the girl. A good thing too, because Rem already had a mate, Rowie Enoray. Besides, Zak would have pulverized the insipid idiot had he tried to challenge him for the girl.

“Remi pulled out of it. You’re the one still obsessing,” Seth continued.

Zak pulled his arm from Seth’s grip and stopped. “Don’t you mean I’m weaker than Remi? Go on,” he snarled, “say it.”

He clenched his fists, wanting to strike something. He wouldn’t hit Seth, though. He loved Seth like the baby brother he never had. He’d punch Remi.... If I can catch the slippery son-of-a-bitch. The last time someone tried nailing the red weredragon, Zak ended up getting clocked in the eye. It had been the pretty Arborian witch.

Damn, he sighed inwardly.

“You’re not weaker,” Seth grated. “There’s no such thing as weaker, only less trained.” He looked around before settling his pale gaze on Zak again. “Now, are we getting our asses out of here, or are you going to wait for the serum to wear off so you can get mauled by dozens of ravenous vamps intent on draining you of your precious dragon’s blood?”

Zak winced at the mention of dragon. Strange, how he didn’t mind being temporarily turned into a blood-sucking vampire, and yet the reminder that he could shift into a dragon made him shudder like an idiot. The thought of not being in control did not sit well with him. Zachariel Wilder must never lose control.

“Fine,” he grumbled just as a few female vamps approached. They watched Zak and Seth with wide bright eyes, their nostrils flaring a bit.

Next to Zak, Seth growled, and the vamps took a step back when a few of his tiger stripes became visible on his forearms. They darted by Zak and Seth, one of them hissing at them.

“Shit,” Zak huffed as they took off in the opposite direction, quickening their pace.

“Forget about changing. Let’s go directly to the spaceport. Devon is waiting there with our Vipers.”

They wove through the tunnels until arriving at the transportation hangar. Boarding a shuttle, they exited the arena via a protected transport chute. The crystal-clear tube dove beneath the ocean a few miles before resurfacing and merging with more common chutes above.

Zak was amazed at how quickly the new planet had become populated. Made mostly of ice, the buildings of the city they passed through soared into the night sky, glittering with millions of lights. It amazed Zak to think his commander, Devon, had used his telekinetic powers to haul a dead planet into the exact spot the destroyed planet of Crystalia had once orbited and recreate it almost exactly. This he had done for his love, Angel, who was Crystalian.

Zak took a deep breath. “It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Devon’s a fucking god,” Seth murmured next to him.

Zak turned back to him with a raised brow. As always, the weretigri’s expression was blank.

“Yeah. He’s really powerful.” Zak pursed his lips. “Good thing he’s on our side.”

Seth remained mute, his sky-blue eyes glued on the glittering city around them.

“Geez, Seth.” Zak sighed in exasperation. ”Spit it out already.”

Seth leaned back in the plush velvet seat of the shuttle, the glow of lights shining through the glass windows illuminating half his face. “I keep dreaming that a golden-haired angel with black wings breaks open the gates of Hell.”

Zak felt his skin prickle with fear. “Davariel?”

“The angel has Devon’s face.”

And Devon was the living replica of his fallen angel father, except that the son’s hair was blacker than pitch. All images of the fallen Angel di la morte had been removed from the galactic databases, as though his very likeness could reach out and destroy again. The most beautiful Seraph ever born was feared that much: Devon and Lucien’s father. “But Davariel turned before being pushed into the realm of shadows. Dev and Luke’s mother, the Master Guardian Luciel, redeemed him.”

Seth was silent a moment. “Angel is pregnant.”

Zak frowned. “You think Devon and Angel’s child is going to be the new dark prince? The baby is wingless. We saw him on Quinn’s scan.”

“Whenever a mortal passes into the realm of demons they transform…. Acquire wings.”

The image of Lucien and the demon wings he sported came unbidden to Zak’s mind. The former second-in-command’s eyes glowed with the same unholy light as Devon’s bioluminescent eyes. However, Seth said he saw black wings. Lucien had dark red demon’s wings.

The feel of Seth’s hand sliding around the back of his neck startled Zak. The weretigri slid over in his seat and pressed his forehead to Zak’s. Pale eyes gazed into his, pupils dilating impossibly wide, the black flickering with a fiery glow. Zak stiffened, wanting to pull away, but the void sucked him in.

“See what I see, Zachariel,” Seth whispered.

Reality shifted.

Beneath Zak’s booted feet lay snow and ice, the color of blood and ash. Overhead, a sky boiling with poison and absolute cold. Zak blinked repeatedly, trying in vain to dispel the images Seth was pushing into his mind, but the nightmare remained surrounding him.

He fell to his knees in terror, his hair whipping across his face in the raging wind. Around him, blackened trees twisted in agony, limbs raised to the sky as if in supplication to a god that no longer protected them. He swore inwardly as he peered through the mangled, dead trees. He saw a vast ocean, frozen for centuries, and beneath the black depths, the gates of Hell. Zak knew exactly where he was.

“Megdoluc,” he rasped.

He knew the gates weren’t completely sealed. Over three hundred years ago, the fallen angel Davariel tried to break them open and managed to crack the portal, and somehow Zak was now standing at the very edge of the entryway to Hell. The frozen whirlpool had to measure at least a mile across, with congealed waves arching around it about one hundred feet high, like icy jaws. The funnel yawned down into black eternity.

Zak wanted to back away, but his body would not respond to his mental commands. The sound of beating wings drew Zak’s gaze up. He almost expected to see Remi in dragon form swooping down to rescue him from falling into the pit and into Hell, but that wasn’t what he saw.

A golden-haired Seraph hovered overhead with the blackest wings Zak had ever seen. He held a sword, blood dripping from the silver blade. The angel was hurt, his wings beating weakly, and then he plummeted into the void.

“No,” Zak screamed, his hand reaching out in futility.

The beautiful creature disappeared within the darkness and a rumbling started.

The stench was so overpowering, Zak began to retch, his eyes watering and nose running. Turning around, his hands hit the unforgiving ice as his body convulsed, the contents of his stomach spattering everything beneath him. Zak cursed and spit with a grimace, feeling the ground shake harder. Behind him, the sound of wings multiplied, as if billions of bats were flying out of the broken portal. Without looking, he knew they weren’t bats.

Zak turned, fist against his mouth, tears leaking from his eyes. A black shape rose from the pit, in its arms laid the bleeding angel. Zak’s heart raced until he thought it would explode. The dark shape lifted its head to stare at Zak.

“Stop,” Zak screamed.

Zak was down on the floor of the shuttle, heaving, gagging as his whole body shuddered in revulsion and terror. He didn’t know when he’d fallen, but his whole being shook, and sweat covered his body.

“Fuck, Seth,” he panted. “Do that shit again, and I swear I’ll tear you to pieces.”

Seth only stared at him with emotionless eyes. “Get your shit together. We’re entering the spaceport.”

Devon stood by their Vipers, a pair of dark glasses covering his bioluminescent blue eyes. Nonetheless, he still drew the gazes of those that passed. Standing an inch shy of seven feet, clad in black from head to toe, with glossy midnight hair and milk-white skin, he had a way of attracting the eye. Devon was the epitome of male beauty, rumored to be the exact replica of his father, Davariel. The only difference was that Davariel had been blond.

He grinned when they approached him, and soon Zak found himself engulfed in strong arms.

“Hey, Dev.” Zak patted his commander’s back before they released each other. “How’s Angel?”

Devon’s smile faltered. “She’s being difficult.”

Seth scratched his head. “Don’t most females get moody when they’re gestating?”

Zak winced at Seth’s wording. Remi was right. The kid talked like he had a stick up his ass.

“The baby’s growing at an accelerated rate.” Devon said with a sigh. “Dr. Quinn says it’s because of my Seraphian genes.”

Unbidden came the image of the blond angel with the black wings that looked exactly like Devon. It couldn’t be Dev’s son. Zak hoped it wasn’t.

“Zak?”

Zak started, looking into Devon’s face, only to see his own sullen reflection staring right back at him from Dev’s glasses.

“We’d better get moving,” Seth said. “We’re drawing attention.”

Zak looked around the spaceport to see a great number of humanoids pointing and gesturing in their direction.

Devon chuckled. “That’s right. Zak’s a rock star now. Let’s go before we get mauled.”

Zak turned, locking his attention on his black transport. The Viper’s top opened, the gleaming black glass rolling into the body of the metal, tear-shaped pod.

Lights began flashing around them, Zak realizing they were being vid-recorded. The press of energy around him also warned him that beings were indeed advancing upon them.

Gripping the edge of his small transport, Zak hopped inside. The velour interior immediately accommodated to his bulk, cushioning his body into a comfortable reclined position. The glass top rolled shut again. Closing his eyes briefly, he sighed.

Time to go back home, boys, Devon murmured into their minds.

Zak nodded, opening his eyes again to look at the black Vipers to either side of him. Their transports were identical. There was no instrumentation, no dashboard. They did have a screen for incoming communication from external sources, but it was rarely used. The Viper’s sole source of power came from its occupant, a Master Guardian—or as they were now known, an Alpha Angel.

Zak took a deep breath, already feeling the tendrils of Seth’s power and the definite sizzle of Devon’s linking them.

Home. Devon’s deep voice echoed in his mind.

To the onlooker, it probably seemed as if the three black Vipers had just vanished from the spaceport, but in reality, the Alpha Angels had the ability to bend space to travel beyond the speed of light. Before long, the presence of Alpha 7 loomed before them.

Zak opened his eyes as they slowed, letting the image of the ring-shaped space station fill his vision.

Home.

He remembered the dread he’d felt the first time he’d laid eyes on Alpha 7. He felt as though he were being exiled into a purgatory. How many times had his father spoken of Alpha 7? It was the home of the demonic freaks Edenians called Master Guardians. Humans with telekinetic powers so strong, they weren’t allowed to remain on any of the inhabited planets for fear they might try to take over.

Now he was one of them, and Alpha 7 was his home, the freaks were his family.

The silvery hull of the space station glowed in the all-consuming black of space. Millions of lights delineated its form to help keep other spacecrafts from running into it.

He knew the exact location of his suite of rooms, knew where everyone else’s was too. Devon’s rooms were brightly lit, signaling that Angel was occupying them. Annie, their Alpha Angel sister's room was dim.

Zak frowned. He wondered if she was still suffering from depression. They’d been in suspended animation for three hundred years, losing everything and everyone they knew, including Annie’s half-seraph son, Gareth. Her baby had only been five years old at the time.

Unbidden came the memory of the little boy running down the corridors of Alpha 7, his one white wing flapping in the air as he screamed in delight, playing Hide and Seek with them. Zak would sometimes help hide him, but Gareth would give away his location with a fit of giggling.

The image of chubby cheeks and laughing golden eyes were replaced with another pair of golden eyes looking at him in fascination. The Arborian witch.

Full breasts straining against the tight material of her golden gown, pink tongue wetting plump lips, “Mine, dragon. You are mine.”

Yes, yes. Yours… umm.... Zak frowned. Wait, hers?

The top to his Viper sliding open snapped him out of his daydream. He stared at Devon, feeling a bit of irritation mixed with embarrassment.

Devon eyes searched his. “You okay?”

Zak rose from his Viper looking away, his face warm. Clearing his throat, he tried to sound nonchalant, “Yeah, man.” The gruffness of his voice made him wince. Zak Jumped over the edge of the Viper, the thud of his boots hitting the charcoal-grey hangar floors echoing. The sooner he got away from Devon and Seth’s probing stares, the better he’d feel. Besides, he needed to clean up. He was all sticky and-- 

Devon’s pale hand shot out and gripped his biceps hard.

About to glower at his commander, he sucked in a shocked breath instead, instinctively throwing his arms around Devon when Remien’s Viper slid into the hangar inches from their boots, leaving a trail of fire and ice in its wake. Zak crashed with Devon against his Viper, his heart up in his throat.

“Crazy-assed fucker,” Seth spat.

Zak gaped at Remien when he jumped out of his Viper with a stupid grin. Devon’s warm breath against his cheek had him blinking down at his commander.

“You can let go of me now, sweetheart,” Devon’s deep velvety voice crooned, his lips twitching into a smirk.

Zak’s face flamed, realizing he held onto Devon a tad too tight. They were plastered against each other, faces close enough to kiss.

“Sorry,” Zak murmured, disentangling himself and feeling like a total ass.

Devon ducked his head, but not before Zak saw him bite his lip to keep from laughing.

Remi sauntered toward them, his grin a slash across his face. “What’d I miss?”

“Maiming us and destroying our Vipers by a hair,” Seth snarled. “That’s what you missed, asshole.”

Remi gave him an amused look, shrugged, and then flipped him off.

Stripes appeared on Seth’s skin as he hissed at Remi. Zak rolled his eyes. It was a typical night on Alpha 7.

“Knock it off, you two,” Devon sighed. He looked back at Zak. “Get cleaned up and uh…” He looked down for a moment before placing his hand over Zak’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re back. We all missed you.”

“Thanks.” Zak smiled. “I missed my home and family, too.” He meant every word.

Zak teleported to his room and headed straight to his hygiene unit, shucking his clothing as he walked. After teleporting his pants and boots off, he stepped into the cylindrical glass and steel area, slammed his palm on the control panel., and growled “The usual.”

Blue rays engulfed him from head to toe. It felt like static electricity mixed with warm, fragranced air.

“Again.”

He knew the rays didn’t need to clean him a second time, but he enjoyed the sensation enough to spread his legs a bit and shake his hair out with his fingers to feel the rays down to his scalp and balls.

Once done, he ran his tongue over his teeth, feeling the pearly smoothness, enjoying the minty cleanliness that would last for days. The sharp points of his fangs made him pause.

Would she enjoy the feel of them over her skin?

In his mind, the control panel of his hygiene unit faded, replaced by the girl’s smiling face, inches of bare, satiny, caramel skin. Would her nipples be just slightly darker than her skin? Would they be chocolaty brown like Anniel’s? He wanted to taste them, bite them, suck them into his mouth so deep, and then pierce—

“Goliath?”

Anniel’s voice startled him out of his fantasy.

“Be right out,” he called, frowning down at his hard-on. He sighed with a shrug. Anniel had caught him in worse situations.

After gingerly stepping into a pair of comfy white drawstring pants, he padded barefoot into his sleeping area.

Anniel stood with her back to him, holding up one of his boots, shaking her head and clicking her tongue.

Her reddish-brown hair hung in loose waves to the middle of her back and her lounging pants, similar to the ones he wore, barely clung to the supple curve of her ass. There was a time when Zak had been extremely infatuated with her. Who wouldn’t be? Even Devon had chrushed on her before he was old enough to have wet dreams. Anniel was tall, all legs, curves and dark skin smooth as satin.

“You know what they say about shoe size and men,” he growled with a grin.

She turned with smile, batting long lashes over her green-gold-flecked light brown eyes. “They have big egos?”

Zak laughed and braced himself when she launched at him with a squeal of glee, and then staggered a bit when she wrapped herself around him. The woman was almost as tall as he was and her size double D breasts were a force to be reckoned with.

Zak held her tight before leaning back to look into her eyes. He gently ran one finger over the soft curve of her face. “A little birdie told me you were still keeping to your quarters, not even coming out to train.”

She snorted. “A birdie, or a blabber-mouthed, red-haired, nosey-body with tattoos and piercings?”

I resent that! Remi growled in their heads.

Zak ignored Remi and just looked at her with a raised brow.

She huffed out a soft sigh, staring at him with a sweet pout from beneath her lashes, just before resting her head against his shoulder. “It’s just been so… hard.”

Zak nuzzled his face against the silk of her auburn hair. “I know, baby. I know.”

Her baby.

He often wondered if perhaps Gareth might still be alive. If the child hadn’t perished in the bloodshed of the war, it was possible. After all, the child was half Seraph and their life spans were over two thousand years. Gareth, at a little over three hundred years, would still be considered young… like Ashriel, one of the reapers’ high priests.

Anniel turned her head and pressed her lips to his cheek. “I’m okay. We’ve been back a while now. Nothing can change the past, right? Time to move forward.” She gave him a little smile, bracing her palms on his shoulders to look him up and down. “Well you’re looking well, Blondie. How’re you feeling? What’s up with all this pretty hair flowin’ loose and sexy?” She winked at him as she twirled a strand of his hair around one of her fingers.

Zak stared deep into her eyes for a moment. “I’ve fallen head over heels in love with some female whose name I don’t even know. I feel like I’m about to lose my mind, and I don’t know why. Seth thinks this female put a love spell on me.”

Anniel blinked, her mouth open in a little O of surprise. “Well, baby-doll, I certainly wasn’t expecting that.”

Zak released her and went to sit at the edge of his bed. The gold satin comforters swallowed his weight as he placed one foot on the edge of the pedestal where the round bed sat in the middle of the room. The lights automatically dimmed and the accent lighting under the pedestal cast a cozy glow throughout the room, just as he’d programmed it to do whenever anyone sat on the bed.

“I don’t know what to do, Annie. I try to rationalize everything up here,” he tapped his forehead, “but I feel this overwhelming urge to go back to her.”

Anniel sat next to him. “You can’t be in love with someone you don’t even know, Blondie.”

Zak took a deep breath and let it out, closing his eyes when she began to stroke his hair.

He remembered how the Arborian witch had stared with longing, as if more than anything she would have liked to stroke it, too.

I want her to, he thought and winced, remembering how closely linked they all were. He could feel every one of the Alpha Angels sharing his feelings and thoughts as if they were their own.

You just need to get laid. Seth suggested telepathically.

Maybe. But even as Zak considered it, his skin crawled in protest.

Remi snorted in their collective minds. Not unless it’s that pretty Indian princess.

Indian princess? You watch too many movies, Red. Devon chuckled.

Zak can’t be in love with a female whose name he doesn’t even know. “That’s stupid,” Anniel concluded verbally, staring at him with a frown.

“I keep trying to tell myself that, Annie. It can’t be love. It isn’t love. But inside I… I hurt.” He scowled feeling anger at having his emotions manipulated. “I won’t have my heart tied up like a puppet in chains, Annie. I need to find this girl, and she needs to undo whatever it is she did to me.”

Anniel bit the corner of her lip. “Y-you wouldn’t hurt her, would you, Goliath? I know you’re into all this bondage and dominance stuff.”

Her words surprised him. “I would never hurt a woman, but this can’t go unpunished, Anniel.”